Supervisor District 1 EXISTING CONDITIONS REPORT Overview

Lake Street

Geary Boulevard

Masonic Avenue Masonic

Arguello Boulevard Arguello Park Presidio Parkwary Presidio Park

Fulton Street Great k Golden Gate Par

Lincoln Way

Encompassing the northwestern edge of the City, San wide array of uses: race tracks, cemeteries, orphanages, Francisco Supervisorial District 1 is a scenic, diverse, and dairy farms. Following the 1906 earthquake, and vibrant corner of . The area includes emergency housing in the area brought new residents and the neighborhoods of Inner and Outer Richmond, the more residential development as many built permanent northern portion of Ocean Beach, Lands End, and Golden homes to replace their temporary cottages and tents. Gate Park. Originally named by George Turner Marsh for Today the area is predominantly residential, home to its resemblance to the sand dunes of Richmond, Australia, 78,695 San Franciscans, including 16,085 families; with the Richmond neighborhood’s open space attracted small significant park and recreational space as well as diverse businesses and institutions requiring cheap land for a retail and commercial activity.

The Richmond District Strategy is a collaboration between Supervisor Mar’s Office and the San Francisco Planning Department. The first of a three-part analysis, this Existing Condition Report describes the current trends and conditions in the District. The Community Needs Analysis will include the perspectives of the people who live, work and visit the neighborhood. The final phase will identify opportunities and recommend solutions to help shape the future of the neighborhood. Please see the website for more information: http://www.sf-planning.org/ richmond-strategy. Demographics Housing Commercial Urban Form URBAN DESIGN The street is six times wider than the heights of POPULATION GROWTH (1980-2010) HOUSING POTENTIAL Corridors BUILDING HEIGHTS 1:6 most buildings along Geary Blvd. A street that feels 825,863 comfortable to walk along and enjoyable as a public 1,800 MAJOR NEIGHBORHOOD space is only twice as wide as its buildings are high. Additional housing units COMMERCIAL STREETS 78,695 could be added on vacant 4 STORIES 12% 678,974 (1%) 45’ or underutilized sites in D1 Allowable District 1 70,078 vs 22% Citywide 3 STORIES 0 STORIES Bldg. 1980 2010 (8%) (5%) Height A 5,019 B Additional housing units = 500 housing units C 1 STORY Geary Boulevard could be added in RH-2 2 STORIES (28%) BLDG. SENIORS (60 & OVER) parcels under current (58%) HEIGHT

zoning regulations 38 GEARY 38-GEARY

www.sfmuni.com

K Almost all District 1 parcels 8309 allow 4 stories but only 9% of 21% A. Clement Street B. Geary Boulevard C. Balboa Street buildings are 3 or 4 stories. STREET WIDTH District 1 HOUSING UNITS IN PIPELINE RENT BURDEN vs 19% Citywide

The number of 44% 225 rent-burdened residents* has FAMILY HOUSEHOLDS Units to be Housing 33% Transportation Pedestrian Access to Parks production in increased from added in 33% in 2000 to 52% District 1 50% District 1 represents less over 44% in 2012. FULTON STREET ALONG vs 24,346 than 1% of *those paying more 47% MUNI RIDERSHIP than 30% of their income 2000 2012 44% Citywide citywide total.

INCOMPLETE OR 1980 2010 53,500 CROSSWALKS Pedestrian access to major parks is often 50% AFFORDABLE HOUSING UNITS (21) District 1 Approx. daily 55 interrupted. Connections to Lands End, transit trips along Intersections Park Presidio greenway, or Golden Gate vs 44% Citywide * * NO Geary Blvd. CROSSWALKS Park often lack sidewalks or crosswalks. 3.2% 1% District 1 is only (15) Affordable Units Inclusionary Units Muni buses on Geary served by bus (the ASIAN POPULATION built in District 1 (198) in District 1 (32) have the highest daily only District in the city 42% as a portin of the as a portion of the ridership in the city. without rail service.) Citywide total (6,141) Citywide total (3,160) 7 with incomplete 37% 9 11 crosswalks. 33% Major access points Minor access points 42% 1 Affordable 197 Affordable 5 Inclusionary 27 Inclusionary WALK TO WORK District 1 Unit in District 1 Units in District 1 Units in District 1 Units in District 1 vs 33% Citywide 22%

is owned are rentals are owned are rentals Ave 2nd

Park Presidio Park vs 1,036 vs 1,305 vs 1,390 vs 1,747 Ave 25th 1980 2010 Ave 43rd 3.1 Citywide Citywide Citywide Citywide 6% MILES District 1 Fulton St *Inclusionary units are below market rate units funded by private development as a part of vs 10% Citywide 12% of the citywide Asian the SF Inclusionary Housing requirement. Affordable units are funded by public funding and population lives in District 1 are in 100% affordable projects. Golden Gate Park

KEY FINDINGS the City’s new housing development (1 percent) and also a cost of renting is significantly lower than the City: the over 44,000 units; only 1 percent of these were located low share of below market rate units (2.4 percent).1 median asking rent for a two-bedroom apartment is $3,000 in District 1. Currently, there are 225 new units under For the past 30 years, District 1’s population has grown in District 1 while this number is over $4,000 citywide. construction or under review in District 1, potentially at about half the rate of the City overall. In this same District 1 is also home to more families than the City However, despite this lower average, only one-third of up to 10 units of which are below market-rate. These time period, the Asian population has doubled, growing overall: 50 percent of households are family households families in the District can afford the current asking rent, 225 planned units represent less than 1 percent of the from 21 percent to 42 percent, replacing a decreasing in District 1 compared to 44 percent citywide. Despite a 7 which requires a family to earn $120,000 a year. Moreover, City’s housing pipeline. Caucasian population. percent decrease in families citywide, the District’s family rents have steadily increased much faster than incomes, population has remained relatively steady over the past 30 Based on the allowable height as well as the zoning San Francisco’s housing market is currently the most and the number of rent-burdened residents (those paying years. capacity, District 1 has the potential for development expensive in the nation. With the current economic more than 30 percent of their income) has also increased both on significantly underdeveloped sites as well as boom and San Francisco currently gaining 10,000 new from 33 percent in 2000 to over 44 percent in 2012. Much like the rest of the City, the majority of District within existing residential buildings. Almost all of the residents every year, the need for housing, especially residents are renters (64 percent), with a higher prevalence The neighborhoods of District 1 have seen significantly parcels in the District allow four-story buildings, yet affordable housing, in both the District and the City is in the Inner Richmond than the Outer Richmond. The fewer new residential units in the past 25 years compared nearly 90 percent are only two stories or less. Certain critical. District 1 hosts a disproportionally low share of to San Francisco overall. Since 1990, the City has added parcels through the District such as the Safeway site 1 Includes both stand-alone affordable units and inclusionary units. near Ocean Beach are developed to less than 30% of Clement and Outer Balboa commercial corridors are their full development capacity. The largest potential thriving with businesses serving local residents, but for new housing units exists in the RH-2 zoning district. at a smaller scale than the Inner Clement corridor. This district allows two units, but on the majority of the Recent streetscape improvements to the Outer Balboa parcels, only single-family homes have been built. An corridor have made this public space more walkable and additional 5,000 units could be built by adding one unit to pedestrian-friendly. each of the existing single family residential buildings in this zoning district. The quality of the public realm in the District varies. Some of the commercial corridors such as Outer Balboa Most residents who live in District 1 work within the City have small streets with a quality pedestrian environment, but outside of the District. Similar to trends citywide, while other corridors such as Geary Boulevard remain an over the past 25 years commute patterns have shifted to exceptionally wide auto-oriented thoroughfare, framed the extremes. Considerably more residents work from mainly by one or two story buildings. This low ratio of home but at the same time there has been over a 50 building height to street width remains far below the bar percent increase in the number of residents who commute of what makes a street comfortable to walk along and be an hour or more to/from work. Residents rely heavily on used as enjoyable public space. Within the residential public transit for their daily commute; the 38 Geary lines neighborhoods, longer blocks and lower building density have the highest ridership of all the Muni bus lines in translate into a less varied public realm for pedestrians the City with over 53,000 daily transit trips. A Bus Rapid and lower levels of activity on the sidewalks. Transit (BRT) project on Geary proposing a dedicated lane for buses is currently undergoing environmental District 1’s major parks and open spaces make up review and aims to improve transit on this corridor. about 20 percent of the City’s total park space. Golden Overall, multi-modal access to the District is limited Gate Park, Lands End, Lincoln Park, and Ocean despite this area’s high demand for transit services. Beach surround District 1 on three sides, all bringing However, despite limited bicycle lanes in the District, the thousands of San Franciscans and tourists to the District. Inner Richmond area has a higher percentage of bicycling But pedestrian access to these major parks from the (5%-10%) than the citywide average (3.5%), an increase of neighborhoods is often inadequate. Clement Street lacks about 170% since 2000. sidewalks at the southern boundary of Lands End. Fulton Street has a narrow six-foot sidewalk on the Golden Pockets of commercial and retail activity are found along Gate edge and many intersections lack crosswalks on the Geary Boulevard and the neighborhood commercial northern boundary of Golden Gate Park. Similarly poor streets of Clement and Balboa Streets. Commercial rents pedestrian connectivity exists when crossing over to the are low compared to other districts in the City. The Geary linear green pathway on Park Presidio Blvd. Smaller commercial corridor hosts mostly retail and neighborhood neighborhood parks and recreational facilities are spread serving businesses (dry cleaners, gyms, nail salons, etc.) unevenly throughout the District, leaving the western and a number of restaurants. Centered near the Holy portions with far less access. Virgin Cathedral, the neighborhood also serves as the heart of the Russian-speaking community. Inner Clement District 1 has 10 public schools, medical facilities such as is an active neighborhood commercial stretch serving Saint Mary’s hospital, museums such as the De Young the surrounding neighborhood and drawing visitors from and Academy of Sciences; along with social, cultural, throughout the City. About half of the businesses on and religious services. University of San Francisco is in this stretch are retail and neighborhood serving shops District 1, with a student body of over 10,000 students, and another quarter are restaurants. In the 1980s, many of whom live in the District. Clement Street became known as the “new Chinatown” Looking to the future, District 1 has many assets that with the increase in Chinese-owned businesses. Inner could become opportunities for better-connected, better- Balboa, on the other hand, is a very small scale four-block served, thriving neighborhoods for existing residents and commercial stretch offering services such as neighborhood future generations. retail, laundromats, and coffee shops. Both the Outer

To submit questions or comments, Para información en Español please contact: Kimia Haddadan llamar al: (415) 575-9010 Planning Department, City & County of San Francisco 1650 , Suite 400, San Francisco, CA 94103 Para sa impormasyon sa Tagalog Direct: 415-575-9068 | Fax: 415-558-6409 tumawag sa: (415) 575-9121 Email: [email protected] http://www.sf-planning.org/richmond-strategy